JMAR Earns Important Additional Patent Protection for Short-Pulse Solid State Laser Technology.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 2000

JMAR Technologies Inc.

--  Expands and Protects company's Intellectual Property Rights for
    its Unique, High-Power Advanced X-Ray Sources

--  Protected Technology Viewed as Critical to Development of
    Leading-Edge Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, Other Products

JMAR Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:JMAR) announced today that it has been awarded the fifth in a series of key patents protecting the proprietary diode-pumped, solid state laser technology created by its JMAR Research division during the past several years.

That technology provides the foundation for a broad range of commercial manufacturing and process development products the company has targeted at the semiconductor and other high technology industries. The most recent patent awarded, U.S. Patent No. 6,016,324 titled "Short Pulse Laser System," allows JMAR 23 separate yet related claims to the new Britelight(TM) laser technology it developed as the basis for its powerful, compact modular Picosecond X-ray Source (PXS) systems.

The company is currently working to leverage the versatility of its highly advanced PXS technology in a wide-range of promising commercial applications. In semiconductor lithography, for example, JMAR believes that its PXS can be used to pattern new generations of ultra-small semiconductors. Farther into the chip manufacturing process, JMAR expects PXS to enable the high-resolution visualization of chip interiors through nanotomography and to provide the basis for other high-value, nano-precision metrology procedures.

The four prior patents for JMAR's Britelight(TM) solid state technology were issued between July 1995 and August 1999, with a total of 116 allowed claims. Each of the first three patents is titled, "Low-Cost, High-Average-Power, High-Brightness Solid State Laser" and the fourth is titled, "Picosecond Laser". The inventors on all five patents are Dr. Harry Rieger, Dr. Henry Shields and Richard Foster, who have assigned their interests to JMAR.

JMAR's PXS modules were designed to provide the industry with a practical alternative to the very large, expensive and inflexible synchrotrons often used for proving the feasibility of new X-ray processes. The PXS, driven by JMAR's Britelight(TM) laser, is, by contrast, only a few cubic feet in size. It produces a train of very short, highly energetic light pulses with intensities of hundreds of trillions of watts per square centimeter.

The Britelight(TM) laser pulses are focused into a microwave-oven-size chamber to generate the X-rays. Last year, JMAR reported that attaining the ability to generate meaningful doses of "soft spectrum" X-rays in a very small package ranked as one of the most important technological achievements in the company's history. This event opened the door to position JMAR as a provider of leading-edge manufacturing equipment for the technology industry, especially in advanced light applications requiring high resolution X-ray imaging, radiobiology, X-ray fluorescence analysis, nanolithography, and nanomachining.

John S. Martinez, Ph.D., JMAR's chairman and chief executive officer commented, "With the grant of this latest patent, the total number of individual patent claims owned by JMAR for its Britelight(TM) laser technology has increased to 139. The additional awarded claims further expand the range of laser performance characteristics covered in our high- brightness solid state laser patent portfolio. As a result, they markedly broaden the scope of the market opportunities for our advanced light products."

Joseph G. Martinez, JMAR vice president and general counsel commented, "For advanced technology companies, the key to success with newly developed products is creating proprietary technology and then actively protecting the company's exclusive ownership of it. JMAR's Intellectual Property program is dedicated to aggressively protecting, by patent and other appropriate means, JMAR's exclusive rights in its inventions. Although the process of obtaining a patent often takes two or more years, JMAR believes that the time and cost of pursuing issued patents on its critical technology are amply justified due to their considerable commercial potential."

He added, "During the past several years JMAR's patent protection efforts have produced 11 issued patents containing 295 separate allowed claims covering various types of laser plasma X-ray sources, high-brightness solid state lasers and point-source lithography system technology. We have four additional, multi-claim patents pending covering nanotomography, laser ablation of materials, and ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microlithography systems, each of which represents a major opportunity for potential growth for JMAR. JMAR has also filed several provisional patents covering improvements to its lasers, related lithography and non-lithography applications as well as advancements in our precision motion control products at JMAR Precision Systems. Furthermore, JMAR Semiconductor's chip design activities have created a substantial body of valuable proprietary technology that is also in the process of being patented."

Richard Foster, president of JMAR Research Inc., JMAR's research division noted, "The active highly successful patent program at JMAR Research is the result of many years of innovative research by our world-class scientists, supported by the investment of about $30 million of company and customer funding to create our unique Britelight(TM) laser and X-ray source technology. As we introduce the new products based on these inventions our current and future patents are expected to play a key role in further strengthening and maintaining JMAR's technological advantage in this field."

For more details on the relationship between JMAR's Advanced Light market opportunities and Britelight(TM) laser performance characteristics, please refer to the company's Web site, www.jmar.com, or see the section entitled "Additional Information on Advanced Light Market Opportunities" that accompanies this release.

JMAR Technologies Inc. is a semiconductor industry-focused company that conducts its operations through three interrelated divisions: JMAR Research (JRI), a leading developer of proprietary advanced laser and X-ray light sources for high-value microelectronics manufacturing and metrology; JMAR Precision Systems (JPSI), which provides precision measurement, motion control, inspection and light-based manufacturing systems, including precise laser systems for repairing defective semiconductors and fabricating advanced biomedical products; and JMAR Semiconductor (JSI), a fabless provider of high performance integrated circuits for the rapidly growing multi-billion dollar broadband telecommunications market and other microelectronics applications.

The statements regarding JMAR's expectations of the successful introduction of new products and future sales and potential business opportunities, and the ultimate breadth of protection of its present or future patents, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These risks include the failure of future orders to materialize as expected, delays in shipment or cancellation of orders, failure of acceptance of new products, failure of advanced technology to perform as predicted, the failure of pending patents to be issued, and the other risks detailed in the company's Form 8-K filed on Feb. 15, 2000, its Form 10-K and other reports filed with the SEC.

Additional Information On Advanced Light Market Opportunities

JMAR uses its proprietary Britelight(TM) lasers to bombard target materials (usually on a moving tape reel) to produce white-hot gaseous mixtures called laser plasmas. These plasmas emit a variety of light wavelengths, some visible to the eye but most too powerful to be seen. The invisible light includes ultraviolet (UV), deep ultraviolet (DUV), extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and a variety of X-rays.

The types of light produced are determined by the characteristics of the emitted Britelight(TM) laser pulses. In general, shorter laser pulses create hotter spots on the target which, in turn, generate higher energy (or shorter wavelength) light pulses, such as X-rays. Conversely, longer laser pulses generate less energetic EUV, DUV, UV and visible light.

JMAR's developing Advanced Light product lines seek to identify and produce the optimum light characteristics, including laser and X-ray pulse lengths, required for each of a variety of important new commercial applications, with an emphasis on high-value semiconductor manufacturing processes. For several years, the company has been working with leading semiconductor producers and equipment suppliers to pinpoint specific critical, future industry manufacturing needs that could be fulfilled using JMAR's advanced light technology.

Those strategic interactions have identified a number of important gaps in the industry's ability to seamlessly transition its current fabrication processes to produce future, higher performance products. Accordingly, at JMAR, programs have been underway for some time to develop commercial products for many of those market opportunities. Consistent with its standard proprietary data protection practices, the company plans to issue periodic progress reports on the status of these projects.